Academic Policies

Exceptions to Academic Policies: ACPHS has established its College-wide academic policies to maintain the quality of our educational programs and to ensure that all students are treated equitably. On the rare occasion that an exception to these policies is warranted, permission for the exception may be granted by the respective Dean. It is expected that the student will consult with the appropriate individuals (i.e., academic or faculty advisor, registrar, program director, department chair) prior to petitioning the respective Dean.

Absences Due to Athletic Events

Recognizing that regular class attendance and on-time participation in classroom assessments (i.e. exams) are critical to the success of student athletes, it is expected that athletic competition schedules will be created in a way that minimizes student absence from class and regularly scheduled class activities. Student athletes are likewise expected to arrange their class schedules in a way that minimizes conflicts between class and contests. When conflicts between class and competitions (not practices) are unavoidable and/or are due to scheduling beyond ACPHS control, faculty should treat the absence as excused and provide reasonable accommodation for the student athletes as indicated in their course syllabus. On the rare occasion that accommodations are not possible, or where there is a compelling academic reason, a faculty member may deny that student athlete accommodation. If denied accommodation, the student can appeal to the Department Chair in which the course is housed to determine the possibility of providing accommodations.

Academic Minor

An academic minor is offered by a department. It is a defined program which reflects a coherent body of knowledge in one or more disciplines. A minor requires a minimum of 18 credit hours of coursework. Unless listed otherwise in the description of the specific minor, the following apply to all minors.

At least half of the required credits for the minor must be at an advanced level (300 level or above) as defined by the minor.
Coursework for an academic minor is presented with the same intellectual rigor as that expected of courses which fulfill requirements of a major.
To successfully complete an academic minor, a cumulative minimum GPA of 2.0 must be achieved in courses required for the minor.
A minimum of 6 credits must be provided by non-required courses of the program (free electives/professional electives/bioselectives/directed electives/liberal arts electives are not considered required courses for the purposes of Minor completion.
A student may not minor in a subject area in which that student is also completing a major.
A minor cannot be completed after graduation.
One course (3 to 4 credits) required for the minor may be taken outside ACPHS with approval from the chair of the department which houses the minor.

All courses for the minor must be taken for a grade unless P/F is the only option."

Attendance Policy

Students are expected to attend all assigned classes. Courses may have attendance policies listed in their syllabus that supersede this policy. The College expects instructors to be reasonable in accommodating students whose absence from class resulted from: personal illness; family bereavement; or observance of major religious holidays or other compelling circumstances. For all short-term absences such as one-day sickness or car troubles, etc., students are expected to communicate directly with their faculty to inquire about processes for any missed coursework. Instructors and the College have the right to request documentation verifying the basis of absences resulting from the above factors. For longer term absences due to illness, students should contact Student Affairs along with supporting medical documentation from their health provider. The Office of Student Affairs will notify their instructors and triangle of success of their absence.

Auditing of Courses

The auditing of ACPHS courses is allowed on a space-available basis with the approval of the instructor and chair of the department that offers the course. The degree of participation expected of the auditor is at the discretion of the instructor. Ordinarily, auditors are expected to attend classes regularly, complete reading assignments, and participate in discussions, but are excused from examinations. Auditors meeting these expectations will have a grade of “AU” recorded on their transcript. Auditing a course is limited to those individuals otherwise eligible to register for the class (i.e. matriculated or non-matriculated students). A maximum of one course may be audited per semester. Auditors are subject to the full tuition and fees of the course. Registration of auditors will be done following the completion of the regular registration process. No withdrawals or refunds are granted. Laboratory courses, workshops and other courses that require significant small group work and one-on-one instruction may not be audited. Audited courses do not count in determining a student’s course load and do not count toward full-time status. An audited course may be taken for credit at a later date. Audited courses may not be used to satisfy pre-requisites of another course. Auditing a course does not count as having “attempted” the course at ACPHS for the purposes of remediation.

Class Cancellations

Faculty shall hold classes as scheduled in accordance with college regulations. Faculty absences caused by illness, personal responsibilities such as jury duty, professional obligations such as attendance at scholarly meetings or occasional professional service are excusable, but must be reported to the Department Chair in advance and alternate measures must be identified so that the class schedule is not interrupted. For hybrid/blended courses or courses with synchronous online components, faculty may alter the delivery method in lieu of cancelling a regularly scheduled face-to-face or synchronous class session. On rare occasions, instructors may be delayed or unable to attend a class due to emergency circumstances. In the event that an instructor does not appear in class and has not notified class of his/her expected arrival time, the class for that day is cancelled after 15 minutes of the scheduled start of that class.

Course Concerns Procedure

Students are encouraged to discuss concerns about grading and other academic issues with faculty according to the following sequence:

Discuss with the faculty member teaching the course or section of the course. The process must be initiated within two weeks of the examination, assignment, or academic incident that is the subject of the appeal.
If the concern is not resolved satisfactorily with the faculty member, consult the course coordinator.
If an acceptable resolution is not achieved with the course coordinator, the student may contact the Department Chair, who has final say.

Note: Should the Faculty member or the course coordinator be a Department Chair, students can appeal in writing to the respective Dean. The respective Dean’s decision will be final.

Course Withdrawal

Students are allowed to drop a course within the two weeks of the semester without the course appearing on their transcript.
From the end of week 2 to the end of week 12 (or until 75% of the course is completed), students are allowed to withdraw from a course only with permission of the course instructor and the grade of a “W” will be recorded on the transcript.

Students are allowed to withdraw from a course after the 12th week of the semester (or 75% of the course is complete) only as a result of a program change or for extenuating circumstances such as a medical situation or family emergency. Grades of “W” are not calculated into the GPA. Find the course withdrawal request form on the ACPHS Student Portal.

Courtesy Attendance in Classes

Courtesy attendance of ACPHS courses is allowed on a space-available basis. This type of attendance is open to students of the College and other select individuals including, but not limited to, faculty or staff of the College, individuals employed by the College’s clinical partners (i.e. clerkship, rotation, or internship sites), and graduate students attending undergraduate courses. There is no fee for or permanent record kept of courtesy attendance in a class. For ACPHS students and faculty permission of the instructor is all that is required. For all others, a formal request to attend classes stating the course and reason why permission is requested should be sent to the appropriate chair and instructor prior to the start of classes. Courtesy attendance is not allowed in laboratory courses, workshops and other courses that require small group work and one-on-one instruction. If the courtesy attendance is determined to be detrimental to the educational environment of the class, the attendee may be requested to stop attending.

Criminal Background Checks

For those ACPHS degree programs that require the completion of College-supervised experiential education rotations, specific rotation sites may require a student to provide a background check prior to commencement of their rotation at that site. In such cases, ACPHS will provide appropriate instructions for students to begin a background check. Rotation sites hosting experiential education students may deny a student’s participation in the experiential program because of a negative finding, which could result in delayed graduation or in the inability to graduate from the program. Nothing contained in this policy shall limit or supersede the College’s provisions, processes or penalties established pursuant to the Student Disciplinary Code.

Curricular Copyright

Unless indicated otherwise, all course materials including but not limited to, the syllabus, lecture slides, note packets, exams, quizzes, assignments, and laboratory activities are the copyrighted property of ACPHS. Materials are intended for the sole use of the students enrolled in this course. Sharing, copying, recording, posting or otherwise distributing these materials without permission of the course coordinator is prohibited. Violations may be prosecuted under the College’s student conduct policy.

Dean’s List

Dean’s List standing is given to full-time students (excluding those in MS programs and those in the fourth professional year of the PharmD program) who have a semester GPA of 3.5 or greater, provided there are no other deficiencies. Students in the fourth professional year of the pharmacy program will be eligible to earn recognition in the form of Experiential Honors in place of Dean’s List recognition. Dean’s List students are informed and recognized for this honor at the end of each academic semester by the Dean.

Dual Degree

A dual degree results in the awarding of two separate degrees, which represent credentialing in two distinct fields. To meet the criteria for a dual degree, students must complete at least 30 credits of unique coursework between the two curricula (such coursework is not double-counted). Dual degrees couple graduate and undergraduate curricula, graduate and professional curricula, or sufficiently diverse undergraduate curricula. Permissible dual degrees at ACPHS include: BS/MS, BS/PharmD, and MS/PharmD. It is NOT permissible for students to receive dual degrees in our Master’s programs (e.g. MS/PSM, MS/MSBS, MSPS/MSMBS, etc.).

Incomplete Grade Policy

A grade of Incomplete should be considered only when extenuating circumstances prevent the completion of work on time. It is at the instructor’s discretion to grant or deny a grade of Incomplete. The grade of Incomplete must be submitted by the instructor to the Registrar by the last day of grade submission for that specific term. An “I” grade does not allow a student to meet a course prerequisite, thus no student with an I grade can be enrolled in subsequent course. Students cannot graduate with an Incomplete grade on their record.

Long-Term Absence

Students may request up to a one-year leave of absence (i.e., current and subsequent semester) or within a semester leave (e.g., several days to a few weeks) from the College for long-term medical or other extenuating personal reasons which prevent the student from completing the semester. A student requesting a leave of absence from the College is required to provide written notice to the Vice President for Student Affairs in consultation with the student’s Triangle of Success. For leave, the request must state the reason(s) for the leave, the duration desired and supporting documentation. In some cases, the Vice President for Student Affairs may request to meet in person with the student. The Vice President for Student Affairs makes a decision on the request and communicates the decision to the student within one week of receipt of the request and disseminates approved leave decisions to the student’s Triangle of Success.

Student Conduct Suspension and Expulsion

See Student Handbook

Summer Session Courses

ACPHS students are allowed to take courses during the summer as long as doing so meets the general academic requirements, course repeat, and transfer policies. A maximum of 10 semester hours of coursework is allowed during any summer at institutions other than ACPHS.

Waiving Course Prerequisites

Waiving the prerequisite requirement(s) can only be granted if a written/electronic approval from the course coordinator is received by the Registrar office. Satisfying pre-requisites using similar courses from other academic institutions must receive prior approval of ACPHS course coordinator.

Withdrawing from the College

A student who is withdrawing from the College must complete the College Withdrawal Form (found on the Register’s Intranet page) and submit it to Registrar@acphs.edu. Students who withdraw from the College prior to the end of week 9, will receive grades of “W” for all registered courses in that semester. After week 9 of the semester, students who wish to withdraw from the College must complete the College Withdrawal Form (found on the Registrar’s Intranet page) and meet with their Triangle of Success. At the discretion of the Triangle of Success, a grade of “W” may be assigned to courses or course instructors may be asked to assign a grade.